Evening Picture: Oppn pits J&K killings against PM felicitation; BJP calls out INDIA boycott of TV anchors as ‘bullying’

In another video, it said that “when the screams of the families of the martyrs are tearing everyone’s heart, the insensitive PM was busy campaigning in Madhya Pradesh and asking for votes.”

Do we deserve such an insensitive Prime Minister? pic.twitter.com/dcvilaLbuD

— Congress (@INCIndia) September 14, 2023

The AAP said Modi was “celebrating the G20” while the families of the four soldiers who died in J&K were in “shock”.

Modi जी का जश्न जारी है। pic.twitter.com/LggeaUm1Qu

— AAP (@AamAadmiParty) September 14, 2023

In another graphic, it said that at the time of the Pulwama attack, Modi was busy shooting a show with television host Bear Grylls.

धिक्कार है ऐसे प्रधानमंत्री पर‼️
जो देश के शहीदों के जनाजे के समय जश्न में डूबा रहता है। pic.twitter.com/2fGobh3ovh

— AAP (@AamAadmiParty) September 14, 2023

Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Manoj Jha also spoke similarly.

The BJP fired salvos back, with the party’s J&K incharge Tarun Chugh saying the Opposition had a “habit” of “seeking political mileage from everything”.

The BJP also hit out at the Congress over the INDIA bloc’s decision to stop appearing on the shows of a host of anchors on national TV channels.

BJP national president J P Nadda posted on X, “The history of Congress has many instances of bullying the media and silencing those with differing views. Pandit Nehru curtailed free speech and arrested those who criticised him. Indira Ji remains the Gold Medal winner of how to do it- called for committed judiciary, committed bureaucracy and imposed the horrific Emergency. Rajiv Ji tried to bring media under state control but failed miserably. Sonia Ji-led UPA was banning social media handles simply because the Congress did not like their views.”

The history of Congress has many instances of bullying the media and silencing those with differing views.

Pandit Nehru curtailed free speech and arrested those who criticised him.

Indira Ji remains the Gold Medal winner of how to do it- called for committed judiciary,…

— Jagat Prakash Nadda (@JPNadda) September 14, 2023

Facing OBC backlash over the Maratha quota issue, the BJP also underlined its credentials when it comes to Other Backward Classes, while accusing the Congress of “insulting” them. In a graphic on X, it said that the UPA-II government (in power between 2009 and 2014) had only one minister from the group, while the BJP currently has 27.

कांग्रेस ने किया OBC समाज का अपमान,

मोदी सरकार ने दिया सम्मान। pic.twitter.com/UKr0GJZxO1

— BJP (@BJP4India) September 13, 2023

As the Enforcement Directorate (ED) Thursday issued summons to Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader K Kavitha, the Congress intensified its attack on central agencies.

In a jingle and video on Congress handle on X, four men dressed in bright clothes are seen as deciding in the morning to “conduct a raid in Chhattisgarh”. They get ready, put sunglasses on, and head ahead.

Meanwhile, curious onlookers sing in Hindi: “When people get unemployment allowance, Modi sends the ED; When the landless get money, Modi sends the ED; When people get cheap medicines and make money from cattle dung, then Modi sends ED.”

ED का मतलब BJP pic.twitter.com/Bbb8BFa8I4

— Congress (@INCIndia) September 14, 2023

The Congress also criticised Modi’s speech in Madhya Pradesh where he said a “ghamandiya (arrogant)” INDIA alliance would destroy “Sanatan Dharma”.

Party general secretary of Communications, Jairam Ramesh said: “He said many light things about the INDIA alliance. He also said that no development work was done in Bundelkhand before his government. I want to remind them that on the initiative of Rahul Gandhi, the then Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh had given Bundelkhand package of Rs 7200 crore for the Bundelkhand region. The Bhoomi Pujan of the Bina Refinery at which he (Modi) was speaking was done in 1994 during the tenure of the then Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao and it was inaugurated by the then Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh in May 2011. I repeat again – the Prime Minister cannot speak the truth even by mistake.”

A public spat played out in Assam between Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and Gaurav Gogoi, the deputy leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha. Gogoi has claimed that Sarma’s wife Riniki Bhuyan Sarma received a Rs 10 crore Central government subsidy for a project.

During the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic, one of Assam’s tallest politicians experienced post-Covid complications. We advised his family to transfer him to Delhi for better treatment, with the state government covering the expenses. However, his distinguished son refused to take…

— Himanta Biswa Sarma (@himantabiswa) September 14, 2023

Sarma shot back with a swipe on X about Gogoi’s father Tarun Gogoi, a former CM of Assam, saying: “During the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic, one of Assam’s tallest politicians experienced post-Covid complications. We advised his family to transfer him to Delhi for better treatment, with the state government covering the expenses. However, his distinguished son refused to take the patient to Delhi.”

Gogoi replied by saying he feels “sorry” for Sarma and wished him well. He shared a link to an old speech of his father in which he had said in Assamese: “I have never met a person who could touch my feet and put a dagger in my back at the same time.”

Sarma chose to reply back with: “Thank you for your gratitude to the state government and medical fraternity. I was the Heath minister at that point of time.”

Tamil Nadu Minister and state Chief Minister M K Stalin’s son Udhayanidhi, who recently stirred the Sanatan Dharma row, continues his increased activity on social media. On Thursday, the actor-producer-politician took on Union Home Minister Amit Shah over his comment saying Hindi united diverse languages in India.

“I strongly condemn the statement of Union Home Minister Amit Shah claiming that Hindi is the uniting force of India and it is empowering other regional languages. Hindi is spoken only in four or five states in the country and hence the statement of Amit Shah is totally absurd. It is only another version of imposing Hindi under the guise of generating livelihood. While we are speaking Tamil here, Kerala speaks Malayalam. Where does Hindi merge with and empower us? Amit Shah should stop oppressing non-Hindi languages by calling them just regional languages,” Udhayanidhi wrote on X.

I strongly condemn the statement of Union Home Minister Amit Shah claiming that Hindi is the uniting force of India and it is empowering other regional languages.

Hindi is spoken only in four or five states in the Country and hence the statement of Amit Shah is totally absurd.…

— Udhay (@Udhaystalin) September 14, 2023